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10 percent inspiration, 90 percent perspiration

By Raiza Canelon/Staff Writer

With the deadline just a day away, four groups of students at Jonata Elementary School in Buellton decided to enter a national science contest — and one team was selected to compete at the finals in Washington, D.C.

But after the thrill of victory came the agony of hard work.

“All of us were screaming and jumping up and down when we found out we got picked,” said Tyler Bunderson, who is a member of Jonata’s “Team Einstein” along with Noah Weitz, Kathy Benson, Jeanine Jabaieh and Shane Sorenson.

“Then the reality hit of how much work we have ahead of us, but on the plus side the project is good because it teaches us teamwork,” she said.

The adventure began when Melanie Krystkowiak, a teacher in Jonata’s GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program, told her students about the Sally Ride Toy Challenge.

“I had just heard about the challenge from my sister-in-law and presented it to my students, who are really interested in learning more about math and art, and this project put their interests together,” Krystkowiak said.

The contest, named for the former U.S. astronaut, is a design challenge for fifth- through eighth-graders that is intended to get students, especially girls, excited about science, engineering and the design process and to inspire them to pursue careers in those fields. At least half of each team must be girls.

Four teams of Krystkowiak’s students submitted designs for new toys by Feb. 13 for the competition’s preliminary round.

Their entries also contained written descriptions and visual presentations of their original toy or game concepts based on one of these themes: Games for the Family, Get Out and Play, and Toys that Teach.

The submissions were judged on originality, creativity, feasibility, design process description, team participation and clarity of communication.

About 100 teams, including “Team Einstein,” were invited to advance to the Toy Challenge national finals at the U.S. Patent Office on May 16.

Team Einstein will be presenting its Magic Mat, a children’s play mat that is also a learning tool for recognizing shapes, colors, animals and letters.

“On the other side of the mat will be a map where the children can associate the objects with where they are found in real life, such as an elephant can be found at a zoo, and the car can be found on the road,” Tyler said as she and her teammates worked to build the toy recently at the Creation Station in Buellton.

Krystkowiak said that the idea and the design of the toy were completely done by Team Einstein, and her only involvement was to help figure out funding and steer their collective ideas into a process so they could accomplish their goals.

“This toy challenge teaches the children teamwork, importance of deadlines, making decisions to benefit the group, and professionalism. They kept a log of all their activities and receipts from purchasing materials. It’s all life skills they can use later on,” she added.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women comprise only 13 percent of the engineering workforce. However, studies show that in elementary school, equal numbers of girls and boys are interested in and are good at math, science and technology.

While open to all fifth- through eighth-graders in the U.S., Toy Challenge focuses on catching girls’ attention to keep them in the engineering “pipeline.”

Sally Ride Science, the organizer of the contest, was founded by astronaut Sally Ride to support girls who are or might become interested in science, math and technology.

Anyone wishing to help send Team Einstein to the national finals may send a tax-deductible donation to Buellton Union School District, Attention: GATE Donation, 595 Second St., Buellton, 93427.

For more information on the Sally Ride Toy Challenge, visit www. toychallenge.com or www. sallyridescience.com.

F.Y.I.:

Anyone wishing to help send Team Einstein to the national finals of the Sally Ride Toy Challenge may send a tax-deductible donation to Buellton Union School District, Attention: GATE Donation, 595 Second St., Buellton, CA 93427.

rcanelon@syvnews.com